Sorry - to most of you this will seem really obvious, but some of my potatoes that weren't "buried" enough are green. I know not to eat them - but they are starting to produce small green shoots. Can I replant them now for more potatoes later in the season? ??? Or should I keep them for autumn planting? (They are Charlotte potatoes if that is any help!)
The ones that I managed to plant correctly have produced some beautiful potatoes, and delicious too. Two plants provide enough for a family of four - is that the usual amount, or should I be expecting more?
And of course final question - once my potatoes are out, what can I plant in their place? I have seeds for beetroot, carrots, fennel and salads. Would I need to dig in some compost for any of these?
Sorry - so many questions!!!
can't help with the planting green tatties, lindsay, we're planting leeks and peas in our ealy potato bed, don't see why beetroot and salads can't go in, carrots, it depends on if you used manure for your spuds..fennel again, don't see why not ;D
sounds like you got plenty on your plants, for earlies
one little tip we picked up from bob flowerdew, if you've earthed your spuds up as far as you can, put a 'newspaper collar' around the plant and cover with grass cuttings, it keeps the light away from them :)
Lindsay, re the green spuds. You'll be fine replanting them now, just as if they were standard seed spuds. Better to do that than try to save them till autumn, since they're already sprouting. No harm at all in them being green (just make sure you bury them in a deeper trench this time so you can earth up around them as they grow.
How big a crop you'll get will depend on your local climate and the weather through late summer/autumn. But you'll certainly get a crop from them... :)
Thanks Triffid, I'll go ahead then and plant them and see what happens.
Manicscousers - I'll try the carrots then, and some lettuces. I didn't put compost in before the potatoes, which was why I had asked the question in case the potatoes had taken too much out of the soil for anything else to grow. Still, as the ground is well dug now, I'll try the carrot seeds and keep my fingers crossed!
might be better putting some chicken pellets down first, just to put some goodness back in the soil :)